The Paris Startup Scene: A photo essay

The following photos were taken by Dan Taylor (cofounder, Heisenberg Media) in December 2013, in an effort to visualize the Paris Tech Ecosystem. Captions by Liam Boogar.

Rue du Sentier has come a long way since its textile roots.

The namesake for the Sentier District in Paris, this street has come to be the epicenter of the Paris startup scene. With its beginning landmarked by one of Paris’ first Starbucks (barely seen above), fast-growing Paris startups like Mailjet, Jolicloud, Commerce Guys, Zilok, Ykone, and even Microsoft’s Spark accelerator call this street home.

NUMA: Coworking, Acceleration & Community.

At the heart of the Paris Startup community lies its origins, Silicon Sentier. This year, the association focused on digital innovation moved from 2 dispersed homes into one 6-story building, which brings together coworking, acceleration, and, most importantly, community.

Mailjet settles into the yet-to-be finished eFounders space.

With former Fotolia co-founder Thibaud Elzière at the helm, eFounders has quickly become a one-stop shop for SMB SaaS startups. Mailjet & Mention lead the path -both raised funding in the past 12 months. The eFounders office is still being built, but companies like Paymill have already moved in – the space will officially open in early 2014.

“Y is for Young” – Melty is Huffington Post for Kids

Meltygroup has become the exception to the rule of flailing media in France. Located in the same building as CEO Alexandre Malsh’s alma mater Epitech, the media powerhouse has grown to become a leader in the youth media space, with offices in Paris & Milan and an online presence in many more countries.

Post-IPO, Criteo set its sights on Mobile.

Hailed as the AdTech IPO of the Year, Criteo employees have only just begun to stop watching the stock ticker on an hourly basis. The next challenge, after spending the last year and a half preparing to go public, is Mobile, and this Paris company has no plans of slowing down.

What’s next for Elaia Partners after Criteo?

Elaia Partners’ Marie Ekeland has had a hectic year, playing an active role in the IPO of Criteo, in which they were amongst the first investors. Between phone calls & meetings, Marie digs through the mountain of papers, pitch decks & proposals on her desk.

“In Trust We Trust.” – BlablaCar

Blablacar CTO Francis Nappez looks over a colleague’s shoulder. The team is all too ready to move into their new offices next month, where they will be located in the same building as AdTech Giant Criteo.

Airbnb’s growth in Paris surpasses San Francisco, New York & Berlin.

The numbers speak for themselves: 20,000+ listings in Paris vs. <10,000 in San Francisco. Contrary to the hostility in New York City & Berlin, Airbnb has found a warm welcome in the City of Light, and has developed a heavy local presence and helped solidify Paris’ reputation as the center of the Sharing Economy.

Facebook France finds a home & a community.

Between the tax audits & the privacy allegations, Facebook hired a French Country Manager this year, and has begun engaging with startups who are investing heavily in Facebook, like Pretty Simple, SongPop, Deezer & Dailymotion – all were present at Facebook’s December cocktail event.

Dailymotion – getting back to business as usual.

Walking around their 10-story office space, you almost forget Dailymotion’s debacle with Yahoo earlier this year. The office is friendly – a full cinema is available to employees – and the view from the top floor has Dailymotion looking out over the rooftops of Paris apartments, from the Sacré Coeur to the Eiffel Tower.

Deezer: Global startups need global headquarters.

Just two years after Deezer announced it would launch globally, the company has solidified its place in the online music platform race. After moving into their new office space this year, Deezer’s main hall (seen above) has become commonplace for startup events & live music sessions alike, with Jack Johnson, Lorde & London Grammar all playing sets exclusively for Deezer.

IDinvest: the common thread between all great Paris success stories.

IDinvest has had one hell of a year. Between Criteo’s IPO (of which they owned 20%+), Dailymotion’s acquisition, Talend’s fundraising & Deezer’s growth, IDinvest has their hand in almost every one of Paris’ top tech startups.

Iris Capital: Investing outside.

Iris Capital has defied expectations of its €500 Million Orange + Publicis fund, investing outside of its LPs comfort zones, into everything from connected objects to Android security platforms. It has, however, followed its LPs leads by being not just French players, but global players, through partnerships like those with Germany’s Capnamic Ventures & a partner in the Silicon Valley.